Beyond the Lens! Family Fun — Attraction in Pigeon Forge

Beyond the Lens is a fun attraction in Sevierville, Tennessee. There is a box office at the entrance where you can purchase admission tickets and tickets to the experiences and I suggest buying tickets online (if you use a third party app like Viator, make sure you've got the correct location, at there is another location in Branson, MO - whoopsies).

I highly recommend you don't miss the FlyRide experience! That was definitely my favorite part about my visit to this attraction. It was cool and really made me feel like I was flying over some of the most spectacular places in the US.

Some things about my visit: When I first walked in, right at opening, 10am there was one group ahead of me - a rather a large party and it took them 10 minutes to get their tickets. Although there were several staff there, ask of them were helping this one group so I'm not sure if the customer was the problem or if the computers were the problem, but it kinda set the tone for the rest of the digital experience throughout. There were quite a few places where guests are supposed to be able to use the AR assistance to get more information and I couldn't get connected at all. Also the kiosks to take selfies were not all working at 100%. There are several places through the attraction that have places you can take selfies with a push of a button at a kiosk and if you get the picture package at the end you'll be able to get all the digital copies of your pictures. One of the very friendly and helpful employees told me there is no limit on how many pictures you can take so I could just go bananas, and I was really excited about this as a solo traveler because I could get pictures, so it was disappointing to not be able to use a couple of them. And since I was stuck behind a large party, I also felt like I had to skip around that group because they took so long.

I got the Christmas in July ticket which included a ride on the polar Express experience as well as the FlyRide. The Polar Express was just all right. I very much preferred the flying experience! I might go on that again next time I'm in the area!

Overall it was an okay experience since so many of the kiosks weren't working and being a solo traveler I didn't have anyone with me to take pictures as they out of order signs suggested. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It might be a good idea to staff the non-functioning kiosk with employees who could help parties take pictures. I might not return for Beyond the Lens exhibit but I would definitely do the flying experience again if I had the...

Such a fun interactive place! And they’re so understanding with small business owners. Our family came here excited to do the fly ride and look at all of the exhibits. We were only able to do the fly ride the one day because since we do own our own business, we kept getting calls lol. Obviously we can’t ignore the calls, but we were scared Our tickets were going to “expire”. Luckily , ASH was there to step in and save the day!! we explained to her that we are business owners, and we have to go to the calls. She took care of us, and reassured us that we were able to come back the next day. Ash took care of business professionally and was super kind. Even complementing me on my perfume!! The fly ride was so enjoyable and beautiful! Love how they incorporate scents, and even light misting when going over the ocean!! Our baby loved it!! However, one con, is some of the interactive exhibits didn’t work. Like some of the games. I enjoyed the Bigfoot interactive map as well as the JFK and presidential exhibit. My husband and I loved playing basketball and ski ball. The football game was pretty fun too. They were cleaning all of the balls in the ball pit, so we didn’t get to go, however it is very nice to know that it’s not a cesspool of infection! I’m glad to see that they take good care of it and they take pride and its cleanliness!! We are looking forward to bringing our little guy to the ball pit next time.

We are locals, however, if you’re not from here, I would highly recommend spending an hour or two here!! It’s So Cool!!

Thanks again, Ash for being awesome!! My recommendations :

-Really spend some time, reading and interacting! -The JFK exhibit is really cool! -The Bigfoot exhibit is astounding. Take a look at the interactive map. -the VR stuff might make you dizzy if you’re not used to it, but it was fun! -the fly ride!!

Pros:

-has great AC! -Souvenirs galore! Has drinks and candy as well. -plenty of parking -Genuinely awesome staff -clean ball pit -Interactive learning and playing -fun to be there -A wide array of topics and subjects!

Cons: -some of the exhibits didn’t work were out of order

Thanks...

Wow, where do I start? I’ll start with saying that this is probably one of the most disappointing things I’ve done in the Gatlinburg Tennessee General area. Be prepared to take out your cell phone and take all the photos because almost half of every machine does not work and the photos are very expensive, they did not tell us at all how it worked so we pretty much had to guess, as we went through the entire amusement area, I would say a good 50% of everything that we were able to do did not work. At the end after being incredibly disappointed for paying full price, I mentioned something to one of the employees and she rudely stared back at me and ignored me completely, after that I had to another employee who said he was going to grab a manager, after I sat and waited for probably 20 minutes I walked up to that same employee as they were laughing and chuckling over by the checkout area and acted like we were not even sitting there waiting on them.

Here’s the best part, Laura, the manager, was incredibly rude, started mocking us, cursing, and made excuse after excuse on why things did not work while they were supposed to. We were told they did a walk-through and everything worked. That was a complete lie . She explained that they have a new owner and they are working on things which is fine but do not charge full price for something you’re getting 50% of what you’re supposed to get. after all of that, she did ultimately resolve the issue with a full refund and I did leave satisfied.

I will NEVER return here and I highly suggest you do not go here. Save your money and go somewhere else. This is arguably the most disappointing thing I have done in my years of visiting this area. I’m still mind blown by the lack of caring from these employees. You are in an entertainment business and you showed nothing but disrespect leading up until the final moments when the refund was issued. Almost every employee that I dealt with was very dry, rude, and cared nothing about their customer only about the money. I’m still sitting here to this moment thinking about how horrible the experience truly was, I swear take this review seriously and spend your...